The Beast
by Relm Wanderer
Summary: RSBI Halloween fic 2004 - Lina, Gourry, Sylphiel and Amelia have been called to a remote town to deal with a strange creature terrorizing the town. But something about this beast doesn't seem quite right... - Couple free fic


_Author's Notes: The 2004 Halloween fanfic I wrote for RSBI. Out of all of my Halloween fics this is probably my favourite. Big surprise it's probably the longest one part fanfic I've ever written. (aside from Fairy Tale # 4, from my Relm's Demented Fairy Tales, but even then I think this is actually longer.) Though I'm known as a more of romantic when it comes to my stories, outside of fanfiction my genre of choice is actually horror/suspense/mystery. Writing creepy things is what I enjoy most. (Being born on Halloween is probably to blame for this.) _

_This fanfic has no coupling bias in it at all. So it's safe for any Slayers fan, whether you are cannon, non-cannon or triad. _

_I must confess M. Night Shyamalan's The Village was a big influence to me when writing this. There were images from that movie that I couldn't get out of my head and they crept their way into this story. You don't need to have seen that movie to make sense of this fic, but if you have watched The Village I'm sure see what I mean about creeping images when you read this long beast of a story. _

**The Beast**

By Relm

"Everyone light your torches! We must hurry if we are going to slay the beast!" The town mayor of Dalmenn called out to his people from the town square. It was a dark misty night with chilling winds breezing through the trees into the small town making those who stood in the square pull their cloaks tighter around their bodies to keep warm.

"Is this really going to work?" One townsperson asked another standing right to him.

"I don't know, but we can't keep living in fear of that creature out in the woods!"

"But the beast hasn't harmed anyone yet!" Another protested.

"No but its' been eating our livestock. Who knows how long before it starts going after people! We have to kill it now!"

"But how? How can a measly bag of powder kill a demon?"

"The sorcerer the mayor got the magic powder from was very powerful. The mayor trusts that it will work."

"And that's why he's having us come with him armed with weapons and fire? And if this sorcerer that gave the mayor the powder was so powerful why didn't he just stay and slay the beast himself?"

The mayor hushed the crowd. "Come now my good people it is time to go and slay the demon!"

All the townspeople raised their weapons and cheered.

...

"Miss Lina why are heading so far off the trail?" Amelia whined pulling a twig out of her hair.

"Amelia we're still on a trail."

"If this was a trail it hasn't been used for like a hundred years!" Amelia grumbled. "My feet hurt and I have twigs all over me. And you haven't even told us why or where we're going. Did she tell you Mister Gourry?"

Gourry shook his head. "I don't think so."

"Wouldn't matter if I did he wouldn't remember anyway. We're heading to Dalmenn. We've been hired to do a job there." Lina answered not looking up from the map she had in her hands.

"What sort of job Miss Lina?" Sylphiel asked trying to keep up with her.

"To exterminate some demon terrorizing the town. Some con artist sold the mayor some bogus powder to kill the demon and of course it didn't work. So this time they're going for the big guns and they hired me."

"I've never heard of Dalmenn. Is it a large town?" Sylphiel asked. She herself hadn't gone traveling too much so there was many parts of the world she didn't know.

"Nope little farming town practically out in the middle of nowhere. I wouldn't have even known of the place if it hadn't been for that guy that tracked me down from the town."

"Miss Lina you can't take advantage of a little town like this! You can't charge them outstanding fees when they have no money to spare!" Amelia chided.

Lina glared at the young princess. "What do you think I am? Some con woman? I'm not going to charge them an outstanding amount of money just to exterminate a silly little demon. In fact I'm not asking for any money at all."

Both Amelia and Sylphiel gasped in shock.

"Miss Lina you mean you're doing this from the kindness of your own heart?" Amelia gushed. The stars streamers were already shooting around behind in.

"No they promised to feed us for a week! And from the stuff I tried that that guy brought for me I'd be a fool to refuse!" Lina grinned triumphantly.

Sylphiel and Amelia both let out sigh of defeat.

"Miss Lina is always so greedy."

Sylphiel nodded her head.

Lina wasn't listening to them she was paying attention to her map and her surroundings. It was mid autumn, the trees that weren't bare had leaves with splashes of amber, gold, brown, red and orange. The forest floor was covered in a similar mosaic of colors. Only unlike the bright leaves that graced the trees the ones forgotten and fallen to the ground had taken on darker duller colors. They were damp from the recent rainfall and made slight squishing noises every time Lina's boot touched down. But that wasn't what Lina was paying attention to. She was listening to the sounds of a forest. She could hear the sounds of the wind through the trees, but she couldn't hear was anything else. There were no birds no insects no other signs of life in the quiet forest other then the greenery and four of them. 'I wonder if this is because of the demon. We're not far away from the town so the beast should be around here somewhere.' Lina thought as she heard a snap of a twig.

Amelia, Sylphiel and Gourry bumped into Lina as she froze.

"Miss Lina why didn't you stop?"

Lina held up her hand and shushed them. "Quiet!" She whispered. She listened very hard but again all she heard was the sounds of the wind. 'I guess I was just hearing things.' She let out the breath that she didn't know she was holding.

SNAP!

There is was again. "Something else is here." Lina whispered to the others.

Gourry went to unsheathe his sword while Amelia and Sylphiel got into defensive stances.

The creature came out of nowhere flying past them knocking Lina and Sylphiel to the ground.

"Where did it go?" Gourry yelled turning around trying to catch sight of the demon in the woods.

"I don't know!" Lina snapped her head around and caught site of the beast. It was glaring right at her behind its' shredded cloak. Its' claws were massive and long brushing the ground as it took in deep breaths. Most of its' body was covered by dirty greyish brown cloth except where it was shredded from the spikes that poked out from different spots on its' body. Its' feet were a match to its' hands, large with long talons. It was a wonder it could move so fast. But it was the eyes that caught Lina's attention the most. You couldn't see the beast's face but you could see the glowing angry red eyes that seemed to pierce your soul.

Lina and the beast locked gazes for what seemed like ages to Lina but were only a few mere seconds before it started to charge.

Lina couldn't regain control of her voice; she was paralyzed, stuck to the spot unable to move.

"Lina move!" Gourry pushed Lina out of the way and tried to strike the beast with his sword.

The beast let out an inhuman screech and ran off.

"Mister Gourry you killed the demon!" Sylphiel cheered.

"I don't think so Sylphiel." Lina commented eye the sword Gourry held in his hands. The blade that was once sharp was now missing a chunk of it.

"It broke the sword?" Amelia gasped.

"Probably blocked with its' claws. I don't think many swords could cut through those things." Lina commented dryly. "But it seems to have been scared away for now. I think we should hurry up towards the town before it decides to go for another round." Lina suggested.

Everyone nodded.

...

The once merry town of Dalmenn was dark and gloomy. The people all looked tired and scared hiding away in fear from the slightest noise.

There was no big party to greet Lina and her companions as they entered the town in fact the few townspeople that even dared to look at them had sceptical looks on their faces.

"Where is the town mayor?" Lina asked a nearby woman.

The woman didn't answer she just pointed to a house.

"Thanks." Lina thanked her and went towards the house.

"Are you guys gonna slay the beast?" A group of kids approached them.

"I'm going to try." Lina said honestly.

"You're the most powerful sorceress in the world aren't you?"

"Well I have been called that from time to time."

"Then you'll be able to kill the demon for sure!"

"YEAH!" All the kids cheered.

"Children please leave the travelers alone. They have much work to do." The town mayor chided.

The children all scattered off.

"I take it you're the mayor of the town?"

The man nodded. "Yes, my name is Francis Melbourne. Come with me into my home. We have much to discuss."

The mayor's home was nicely furnished with big comfortable furniture and pleasant art. The fireplace cracked with a large fire that warmed the cold autumn air. All and all the home should have been warm and inviting but the worries of the town's plight had seeped into the air making things tense and uneasy.

Lina, Gourry, Sylphiel and Amelia all sat down on the couch and chairs by the fire while the mayor idly poked at the flame with a poker.

"I wasn't so sure you would come to our humble little town. Your reputation precedes you even here. There is no way we could pay you your normal fee for demon extermination." The mayor sighed and took a seat on a nearby chair.

"Well if my reputation precedes me, then so should my appetite. I was quite impressed by the samples I tried. But let's not talk about payment right now. I want to know about this demon. Has it been lurking in the woods for a long time?"

The mayor shook his head. "The beast has only been around for a couple months at most. First it started with some sightings of a creature in the woods. Myself and the other members of our town counsel scoffed at that. There has never been so much of a slime let alone a large blood thirsty demon around these parts. And the people whom saw the creature weren't the most reliable of sources. But then others also saw the demon as well. In fact one of my own councilmen came face to face with the thing."

"Did the demon hurt the man?"

"Thankfully no. But had he not ran away as he did I'm the sure the beast would have maimed him. Since then some of our livestock has gone missing and our crops ransacked. And we find trails of bones and fur leading into the woods."

"So the demon has been snacking on your food. Has it ever come into the town? Besides the fields where your crops and livestock are?" Lina asked while tapping her finger in thought. She was thinking about her own experience with the beast. She had never seen a creature like it. It was like a cross between a mutated porcupine and a troll and twice as big. It looked like a creature breed to kill. But even then there was something strange about the beast. Something that almost seemed familiar to her. 'Have I faced one of those things before?'

"If it has ever come into the town it did it unnoticed."

"Has it ever hurt anyone?"

"Yes. My nephew Jamos. He was aiding me in trying to exterminate the demon with that false magic powder I bought from that con man."

"So you mean to tell me the demon hasn't attacked before except when provoked?" Lina mused. 'This is starting to sound suspicious to me. If it were some blood thirsty demon it would attack everything in sight. It's not like it was injured and unable to go and attack something like a human.'

"I suppose so but it's only a matter of time before it will. Soon we will be completely out of fresh meat for it to slaughter."

"And it did attack us in the woods too Miss Lina." Sylphiel reminded her.

"You were attacked?" The mayor gasped. "Were you hurt?"

"No it didn't hurt us. It did however bust up Gourry's sword." Lina motioned to the sword attached to Gourry's belt.

"Oh my! How you are going to slay the demon without a proper sword?"

Lina pressed her lips in a frown. "To be honest I doubt any sword would work on that demon's hide. I'm not sure of what its' skin is made up exactly due to its' clothing but its' spiky armour on its' back seemed pretty hard to me. I wish I knew what kind of demon it is."

"Will you be able to kill it without knowing what it is?"

"Oh yeah I'm pretty sure we could. But it's always easier if you've got some information on the enemy you're facing." Lina let out a sigh. "Do you have a library here in town?"

"Yes but not a large one. It's mostly about town history."

"Alright then, Amelia I want you and Sylphiel to go the library in town and see what you can dig up. Anything relevant to the town and possible demonic connections it could have. Gourry you and I are going to investigate where the demon has been. Mr. Melbourne will you be willing to show us?"

"I can but is it wise to investigate the demon with a faulty sword?"

Lina shrugged. "Gourry's not much help when it comes to research as it is. So that's why he's tagging along with us."

"Hey!" Gourry protested.

"You fall asleep as soon as you open a book you dummy."

"Because it's boring! And my sword skills are not faulty!" Gourry huffed.

"Alright fine then whatever. Mr. Melbourne do you have any swords that Gourry could borrow for the time being?"

"Yes I do. But I doubt they will be the best of quality."

Lina shrugged again. "I'm not going to go hunt the beast just yet so it really doesn't matter right now. We'll see if we can gather any useful information first."

...

Mr. Melbourne led them to the town fields with all their crops. Patches of the crops were fine, while others were ripped up with remains of rotting fruits and vegetables everywhere.

Lina eyed the patches of undisturbed vegetations. "Mr. Melbourne what are you growing there?" She pointed to the areas still intact.

"Carrots, turnips and squash."

"And over there?" She pointed to an area that had been ransacked.

"Potatoes, tomatoes, yams and pumpkins I believe. Though it is hard to tell after all the damage done to the ground."

Lina frowned. 'If the beast were going for the closest food sources then it would pick the fields closest to the woods. But besides the tomato vines all the ransacked areas are much farther away. It's almost as though the demon is choosey on what it wants to eat.' "Where are the livestock remains?"

"Over this way." Mr. Melbourne led them to where the town's livestock were kept.

Tall wire fences outlined the perimeter of the area where the animals were. Various animals contently roamed around from within the confines of the fence. Not much seemed out of the ordinary. If it weren't for the trail of bones, fur and feathers that lead to the woods you wouldn't have even known that a large creature had been raiding the stock.

"Did you repair the fence at all?" Lina inspected the wire. It didn't seem to have been touched. No scraps of fur or cloth were snagged on the wire and no blood stains either. And there wasn't any one spot on the fence where the wire had been bent or twisted.

"No we haven't needed to. The beast doesn't seem to have any problems getting over it."

"Strange. If this were just a mindless demon it wouldn't be so careful not to touch the fence. It probably would have hurt itself at least once before knowing not to go near the wire. But if it can run as fast as it can it probably can jump high. Though the demon should have at least once nicked the fence." She touched the wire to see how sharp it was. It cut through her glove and pricked her finer. "Ouch! Yeah that's sharp. When does the beast go after your livestock?"

"We figure probably late night or early in the morning. We haven't actually spotted the creature going after our animals."

"Have you ever had someone stand watch?"

"We have, but on both occasions our watchmen fell asleep. Just the same we're sure it's' the beast. And there's nothing any of us could do to stop the beast without putting ourselves at risk."

Lina nodded in agreement. "You said your nephew was hurt by the beast. What sort of injuries did he get?"

"His arm was gashed and his back was bruised. We scared the beast off before it could do more."

Lina raised an eyebrow. "You scared it off? With what exactly?"

"We had lit torches to see before we went after the beast. When it attacked my nephew I threw my torch at it. It seems the beast fears fire."

"A nicely aimed fireball could possibly kill it then. Provided that it fears what can hurt it." Lina mused. "Have any of your people tried using magic on it?"

"No one in our town is gifted with the ability to use magic I'm afraid. Which is why I'm so grateful you're all here."

"Sure Lina can kill anything." Gourry said contently. He was just happy that he could add something to the conversation. He had been too lost to comment before.

Lina rolled her eyes. "Mr. Melbourne is there anything you can tell me about the town? Do you have any idea why a demon would take residence in the woods around your town?"

Mr. Melbourne shook his head. "We're just a farming community. There are very few items here with any sort of value. And as I've said no one here knows magic, so we have nothing here with any magical properties to it."

"What about in the woods. Is there anything strange out there? Like a statue or enchanted spring…?"

Mr. Melbourne scratched his head in thought. "There is a small old hut out there but it's barely standing. And people from my town have been there several times and there's nothing special about it. Though we never knew who built it."

"Perhaps that might be something worth looking into." Lina mused.

"I wouldn't go out there looking for it. The beast will surely attack you."

Lina frowned. "Well maybe you have something written about it in one of your books from your library. But what else can I ask you?" She crossed her arms and absent mindedly tapped her fingers in thought. "I know. Did anything strange happen in the town before the beast was first seen? Weird lights in the sky, strange weather patterns or strange noises?"

Mr. Melbourne shook his head. "Not that I can recall. I can ask around for you if you'd like."

"I think that would be a good idea. What about visitors? Anyone that sticks out in your mind?"

"We had a couple traders come by to trade for food and supplies. A few people stayed in our town for a night; but otherwise no one really suspicious enough to mention. Except that so called sorcerer that sold me that powder. Could he be the one responsible for the beasts' appearance?"

"You know it's quite possible. But he's probably long gone by now. Is there anything else you can tell me? Anything that could be helpful investigating the beast?"

Mr. Melbourne shook his head yet again. "I'm sorry I can't be more help to you."

"You've been helpful enough. I think we're done were. Gourry I think it's time you and I go see what Sylphiel and Amelia have managed to dig up." Lina said while taking one last look towards the woods. There standing near some of the trees stood a woman very thin, pale and equally pale long hair. She seemed to have a sad expression on her face. "Hey Mr. Melbourne whose that?" Lina asked the mayor while pointing at the strange woman.

"Who's who?" He asked looking where Lina was pointing. He didn't see anyone.

"That woman over there." Lina looked back and sure enough the woman was gone. "Huh? I could have sworn I just saw a very pale woman with long grey-white hair standing right over there…" She trailed off.

"Perhaps you're tired and just seeing things." Mr. Melbourne suggested.

"Maybe. Anyway let's get back to see Amelia and Sylphiel."

...

The town library wasn't really a library at all. It was the basement portion of the town's 'inn'. Of course the town didn't get many visitors as it was so the inn only had four bedrooms in total.

Lina and Gourry made their way down the creaking wood stairs to where Sylphiel and Amelia were researching. Instead of being greeted with a hello they were greeted with a sneeze.

"It's so cold down here!" Amelia complained through chattering teeth. "And everything is so dusty!"

"Come now Amelia it's not that bad." Sylphiel chided. "Miss Lina, Mister Gourry did your investigating go?"

Lina shook her head. "The more and more I hear about this demon the more and more I question if we're dealing with something that's dangerous. And some things I found suggest that it might even be slightly intelligent. But I can't say anything for sure. What have you two got for me?" Lina asked rubbing her hands to together to try and keep them warm from the frosty air in the basement.

"I can list the names of all ten founders of the town and read you their birth, death, and crop records. But there really isn't anything here about demons or anything related to magic." Amelia closed the book in her hand emphasizing her point.

"I was afraid of that. How about the old structure out in the woods? What do you know about that?"

Sylphiel frowned in confusion. "An old structure in the woods? Why there's no record of any buildings built besides the ones in town. And they kept records of all structures that went up here. Maybe that building out in the woods was built before the town was founded?"

"Wait a minute Miss Sylphiel! I think this book has something on that structure Miss Lina is talking about." Amelia showed them a book she was reading.

"Amelia this is a book about fairy tales." Lina scoffed.

"Yes I know but this story talks about a demon that was sealed away in the middle of the woods by a powerful priestess. And how the demon swore to cause destruction on the lands once it freed himself."

"Amelia does it say what area this tale takes place in?"

"Um no."

"Well I don't think that little legend is about here. Mr. Melbourne has assured me that no one in this area practices magic around here. So why would there be a priestess here in the middle of the woods?" Lina asked cryptically. A part of her thought back to the woman she saw in the woods but she scoffed at that idea. 'I was just seeing things. And besides that Amelia has there is from a completely different region all together. It looks like one of those folklore books that have stories about the area. Probably someone passing through the town left it in the library.'

Amelia lowered her head. "I guess you're right Miss Lina."

"I guess we'll just have to do some more reading." Lina went to pick up a book but Sylphiel took it from her. "Hey!"

"I've already read that one Miss Lina. In fact we've both read all the books here. There isn't anything her that's going to help us."

"Damn." Lina cursed. "I don't just want to go blindly hunting this creature without knowing more."

"What are we going to do then?"

"Tonight we're going to go stake out the fields. I want to observe the beast as it eats. Amelia, Sylphiel and Gourry, you three will stake out the crop fields while I will check out the livestock area."

"You can't go alone Miss Lina! That's dangerous!" Amelia protested.

"Only if it sees me. Which I plan not to be seen anyway. Besides the crop fields are much larger than the livestock area. I'm going to need all three of you there to properly stake it out. And I don't want to leave Gourry to look after one area anyway. He'd just fall asleep."

"Hey!" Gourry objected.

"What are we going to do for the time being?"

Lina grinned. "Well it is practically dinner time…"

...

The night was cold and dark. A thick mist had rolled in and took residence in the small farming town. Besides the occasional sounds from the townspeople the night was quiet. The sky was clear of clouds and dotted with millions of twinkling stars.

Lina looked upwards noting the full moon overhead. 'It's good thing there's not werewolves in the area. Otherwise that would make things twice as fun.' She thought sarcastically.

Lina was sitting near the livestock area hiding. She had a good view of everything around her, but if you were coming from the woods you wouldn't even notice her. Except for the little lantern she had lit that kinda gave her position away. But she wasn't intending to have that on for the whole night. If the beast happened to come she was going to put it out right away. 'Oh course I have no idea if it is going to show anyway. Or when for that matter.' Lina let out a sigh as she pulled out a notepad and a pen. She began writing down everything she knew about the beast. Eating patterns, accounts from the townspeople, and anything she could remember from her encounter with it in the woods. She even attempted to draw a picture of the beast. But her drawings were always crude at best so it certainly wasn't a masterpiece, though it did convey attributes of the beast. Going over the information on the beast made Lina shake her head. 'Things about this beast just don't add up. Some things tells me it's just a dumb hunger crazed demon, while others tell me it could be intelligent.' She put down her notepad and huddled for warmth. 'Gee it's cold out here. I wonder how Amelia, Sylphiel and Gourry are doing… Amelia is probably whining, Gourry is probably sleeping and Sylphiel is probably the only doing the job I asked.' She thought with a chuckle.

...

Hours passed and the beast had not shown up at either area.

Lina's lantern had long since blown out. She didn't do anything to relight it again because she herself had fallen asleep. Lina hadn't meant to, but sitting outside in the cold with nothing to do was boring and so she fell asleep.

SNAP!

Lina woke unsure of where she was. "What's going on?" She looked around remembering what was happening.

The beast merged from the woods moving at a slow cautious pace.

'There it is.' Lina took out her binoculars and focused on the creature.

The beast moved very stealthily across the town perimeter watching its' surroundings very carefully. It stopped ever so often at any sudden noise and didn't move again till it knew the cost was clear.

'Its' not just running towards the livestock. Its' being careful to not get caught.' Lina observed surprised by this.

The beast approached the wire fence and paused once again listening for sounds. For a very long time it didn't move, it just stood there motionless.

'What's it doing? No one's awake at this hour. What could it be hearing?' Lina wondered. 'The only person awake around here is me… It can't hear me, can it?' She froze and tired to be very quiet.

As expected the beast resumed moving and jumped the fence. It was surprising how quiet the creature was despite how big and how heavy it looked. It crept through the field at alarming speeds without making a sound. It grabbed a sleeping chicken from its' coop and before the frightened animal could make a noise the beast snapped its' neck.

Lina flinched slightly at the sudden death of the bird. Though in a way she was thankful that the beast didn't make the chicken to suffer before eating it.

Instead of eating the now dead chicken right away the beast went for another one and repeated the same action. It continued doing this till it had five dead animals in its' hands. With prey in hand the beast sped off to the fence and leaped over. Immediately it took the chicken it first killed and began eating in a fury. Feathers were scattered everywhere as the creature ate. It didn't seem to care that it was being splattered with the chicken's blood. But then it was eating the bird whole, bones and all, so that wasn't that surprising.

'Funny it was being so careful about being quiet before and now it doesn't seem to care. But when you're hungry it is hard to focus.' Lina surmised as she moved to get a better view of the beast with her binoculars. But while doing so Lina knocked over her lantern by accident and spilled the oil everywhere.

"Shit!" Lina cursed as she tried to get off some of the oil that had spilled on her. 'Can't worry about that now.' She went to focus back on the beast with her binoculars. But the beast wasn't there. The dead livestock laid among the chicken feathers where the beast once was, but the beast itself had vanished.

"Damn I scared it off." Lina lowered her binoculars scowling. She went to return her attentions back to the lantern she knocked over but surprised by the figure standing before her.

The beast stood a few feet away from Lina gasped and recoiled a bit which caused the beast to flinch as well.

Lina was too scared to move so she sat there staring at the beast before her. She could see the fresh bright crimson blood stains on its' cloak and some feathers that stuck to it. There were many stains on the cloth both blood and mud making it very hard to tell what color it was originally. And the spots where the spikes poked out were ripped making Lina wonder how the beast ever put that cloak in the first place. It looked like it would fall into pieces if it tried to take it off. She looked up seeing more of the beast's face then she ever had.

The beast's face still remained hidden under the cloth but Lina could clearly see the large fangs that hung from the creature's mouth still dripping with remnants of its' last meal. The eyes were the same, red and glowing despite the darkness that surrounded them.

Lina didn't know why it just stood there looking at her instead of attacking. 'What's wrong with it?' She wondered. With all the oil spilled on Lina's clothing it made casting and sort of fire magic dangerous. If she had no other choice she was prepared to use magic but the beast's actions were confusing her. It was then that she noticed something strange. The beast wasn't breathing in long slow breaths. Its' breathing was very fast and sharp and it even seemed to be trembling a bit.

'Is it scared of me?' Lina's eyes went wide with that sudden realization.

It was impossible to figure out what was going through the beast's mind. It was so quiet and so still. It looked at Lina as though it was trying to look right through her. It even seemed to be a bit confused. Like it was confused on why Lina hadn't tried to hurt it yet.

It knew it should run, that staying here was dangerous but it was compelled to stay. There was something about Lina that made it drawn to her.

Neither the beast nor Lina was sure what woke the animals but all of sudden some of the livestock woke up and started making a ruckus.

Lina looked over at the animals wincing at the noise and looked back at the fleeting form of the beast. "Well that scared it off." She commented.

"Something is wrong with the animals!" One of the villagers yelled coming out of his home and was joined by others.

"I guess that's it for the stake out." Lina sighed she was about to get up and leave when she noticed something on the ground. It reflected the light of the moon and seemed to sparkle. She picked up the odd object and was surprised. It was a small palm sized oval shaped dark red gem that Lina presumed was a garnet that was set in a metal encasing. The gem had a large crack right through the middle of and you couldn't tell what kind of metal the encasing was due to all the erosion from the weather. There was something odd about this little piece of jewellery. It seemed so damn familiar to her but she didn't know from where. Of course this was a pretty common thing of jewelry that people wore on their belts so it wouldn't be strange that Lina had seen a similar gem worn by various people she's encountered over the years. But even so she was sure there was something special about this particular gem. 'Where did it come from? It wasn't here before.' She looked back where the beast had run off to. 'Could it be that the beast had it? Why would it have something like this?' Lina pondered.

...

The next morning at breakfast Lina sat in her chair idly picking at her food. The food before was delicious but she couldn't really muster up an appetite. Her mind was far too focused on her assignment. In her hands she held the gem she had found the previous night. Ever since she came back from her stake out she couldn't stop staring at it. In the back of her mind she knew exactly where she had seen the gem before but the memory was muddled and she just couldn't place it.

'Who do you belong to?' Lina imposed her thoughts on the gem as if it had the ability to read her mind and answer her question. Of course the gem possessed no such power so Lina sat there with her unanswered questions.

Gourry watched Lina very carefully. He knew what kind of state she was in. This was always how Lina got when she was working a real difficult problem. She was so consumed with thought that she barely noticed anything going on around her. So what he do? He took advantage of the situation.

"HEY! How dare you take my sausage!" Lina screamed.

"Well you weren't eating it so I thought you didn't want it." Gourry replied innocently.

"Just for that I'm going to take so of your food."

Ah yes the days old breakfast rituals of Gourry and Lina.

...

With breakfast out of the way Lina sent Gourry to see about getting his sword fixed or getting a new one and Amelia and Sylphiel to question the villagers about what they know of the beast. That left Lina alone with her thoughts and her investigation.

Lina decided to check out the crop fields and the livestock pens. As Amelia and Sylphiel had mentioned the beast hadn't raided the crops the previous night so when she approached the fields she didn't notice anything real different from the day before. The only real difference was that there were farmers tending to their crops.

The livestock area was another story. Many had gathered around to see the recent mayhem that had occurred. They all stood around the mess the beast had left in a circle murmuring among themselves.

Lina had to push past the townspeople just to get a close up view of the mess.

Chicken feathers littered the ground clumped together with dried blood. Part of the chicken's carcass still remained half eaten and discarded on the ground. But the other four animals were not there. 'The beast must have taken them back with it.' Lina surmised backing out of the crowd.

"Miss Lina you were here last night weren't you?" A villager questioned Lina.

Lina just nodded.

"Was it the beast that did this?"

"Yes it was. It took four other animals of your livestock with it back in the woods."

There were gasps among the crowd.

"The beast is going to come and eat us all!" A woman shrieked.

The crowd murmured in agreement.

"Well that might be true but it won't resort to anything like that till all your animals are gone. You've still got a lot left." Lina observed noting the animals that freely roamed beyond the wire fence.

"And you'll kill it before it can anyway right Miss Lina?"

Lina let out a sigh. "I'll do what I can but I need space. Would you all please go back to what you should be doing at this moment? I need to investigate the area further." Lina pleaded with the crowd. She wasn't happy that they were already messing up the area and wanted them to leave as soon as possible.

Most of the crowd were not happy about being forced away but they complied with Lina and left.

Lina pulled out a magnifying glass and started looking around the area for any clues. She wasn't entirely sure what sort of stuff she was looking for but she looked anyway.

A lot of the stuff Lina observed she already knew of or saw the previous night. The really new thing that Lina saw was the beast's footprint. The footprint was large and from the looks of it the beast had only four toes on each foot. But the span between the prints was very large.

"Looks like it has really long legs. Though it is strange that it walks on two feet rather then four. I know the front claws on the beast are massive but the way its' limbs are shaped it looks like it shouldn't comfortably be able to walk or run upright." Lina talked to herself. She looked to where she had been sitting the previous night and smiled. "It's a good thing it didn't try and hurt me. I would have been dead in seconds." She chuckled to herself while rising to her feet. She walked along the path the beast had taken to get back to the woods amazed by the distance between the strides. When she reached the edge of the woods she stopped. "Probably shouldn't go out there alone. Could be dangerous." Lina decided and went to turn back but she saw something in the corner of her eye. She turned her gaze back to the woods and saw the same woman she saw the previous day.

The woman's eyes were a haunting piercing blue that made Lina unconsciously shiver. The woman wore a simple white robe and had white ribbon tied to each of her hands. The ribbons were long and touched the ground. A similar ribbon was tied around her forehead. She didn't speak she just stared at Lina for a few moments and then walked back deeper into the woods.

"Wait! You can't go there!" Lina yelled and sprinted to catch up.

The woman didn't listen she just continued on walking with her ribbons flowing in the air.

No matter how fast Lina ran she couldn't catch up to the silent woman. Every so often Lina lost sight of the woman unsure of where she went. But Lina always caught glimpses of her from the corner of her eye.

"Please lady it's not safe here! You have to come back to the village with me." Lina tried to reason with the woman while stopping and taking a few short breaths. 'I can't keep this up. I'm too tired.'

SNAP!

Lina turned her head to the direction of the noise.

There only a few meters away from Lina stood the beast. Like before the beast locked gazes with Lina before starting to charge at her.

Lina's first instincts were to block, run or fight. She pushed all the those impulses down and stood still.

Instead of striking her the beast ran past her.

Lina turned around and face the beast once more.

Once more it charged her but didn't hurt her.

"If you wanted to kill me you would have done it already." Lina dared to speak at the creature. "You can try and scare me but I'm not going anywhere."

The beast let out a howl before charging her again. This time it grazed Lina's arm with its claws as it ran past. But the beast didn't draw blood, it just cut Lina's sleeve.

"You're not scaring me away. I know you're afraid, but I'm not here to hurt you."

The beast stared at her and turned its' head looking at her with confusion. It didn't understand her.

"I guess you don't speak human do you?" Lina half chuckled. "Yeah and I don't speak beast so looks like we're not communicating at all."

The beast approached her slowly this time to observe her but still keeping its distance.

'Looks like I was right. This isn't a vicious monster; it's a scared creature that's just trying protect itself.' Lina mused with a frown. 'And the villagers want me to kill this thing? How can I tell them I can't kill their beast because its' not dangerous. It's not like I can stop the beast from eating the town's crops and livestock.' She looked at the beast with a frown. 'What am I going to do?'

The silent woman reappeared and stood before Lina.

"You again. Who are you?" Lina asked the woman knowing very well she wasn't about to get a response.

The woman just continued to walk through the woods and stopped once she noticed Lina wasn't following.

"You want me to come with you? I guess I've got nothing else better to do." Lina shrugged and started to follow her.

The beast also followed as well but still keeping its distance from Lina.

A part of Lina wondered if the woman she was following was even real or if she was a figment of her imagination. But she couldn't ignore that the beast's sudden appearance in a place like this. There were too many unanswered questions floating around. She looked back at the beast following her. It didn't seem afraid or hostile it just looked curious.

Ahead of Lina she saw a trail of chicken feathers. The silent woman stood by a large tree where most of the feathers were.

The base of the large tree had two very large roots that almost seemed to come up from the ground making a little notch between the tree and the ground. The ground was covered with a large clump of dry leaves and grass that served as a bed and tree seem to lean forward to shelter this little bed from the rain.

"So this is where you sleep huh? Cozy." Lina half joked to the confused beast. She looked to the woman.

The silent woman smiled and pointed to the bed.

Lina kneeled down to take a closer look. Two things caught her eye. First was a scrap of fabric and the other was a book.

The scrap of fabric was an off white color that was dotted with a few specs of dirt. Though it didn't match the color of the cloak the beast was wearing Lina was certain this was the cloak originally was.

The book was tattered and had minor water damage. From the cover Lina could tell it was a very old book written in an equally old language.

Lina looked over at the beast with a raised eyebrow. "Now why would you have something like this?"

The beast wasn't paying attention to her. It was pacing around on all fours.

'Something is agitating him.' Lina looked around. She couldn't see the woman anymore. 'Guess this is all she wanted to see. There wasn't anything especially interesting about this area anyway. It was trees, trees and more trees.' It was then that she noticed the little structure not too far away. 'That must be the shack the mayor told me about.' She got up and started to walk towards the old house.

The beast howled and jumped in front of Lina's path.

"We've already played this game." Lina went to go past the beast.

The beast moved blocking her path and growled.

"You don't want me to go over there do you?" Lina looked over at the nearby shack again. In the sky she saw a dark mass of clouds forming. Before Lina could react she was blasted with a strange energy.

...

"Where was Miss Lina last seen?" Amelia interrogated the townspeople.

"She was at the livestock pens last I saw her." A townsperson answered.

"Yeah! Yeah! She wanted to investigate. I stuck around because I needed to feed the pigs. One moment she was standing near the edge of the woods the next she just vanished!" Another exclaimed.

"The beast must have taken her!" A woman shrieked.

"We'll never be able to stop the beast! We're all doomed!"

"Good people do not despair. As a champion of justice I will find Miss Lina and bring her back safe and sound!" Amelia declared.

Everyone cheered.

"If Amelia doesn't stop she's going to turn the crowd into a destructive mob." Sylphiel observed.

"Yup." Gourry replied.

"Should we get her?"

Gourry nodded.

Gourry and Sylphiel went up behind Amelia while she was in the middle of another speech and dragged her off.

...

"Why are we doing this again?" Amelia whined shaking with fear.

"Because you told practically everyone in town you would go and rescue Miss Lina and bring her back." Sylphiel answered dragging Amelia through the woods with Gourry.

"But we don't know how to kill the beast!" Amelia exclaimed.

"Yeah well that sure didn't stop you from making promises to the townspeople. Besides I doubt Miss Lina is in any danger."

Gourry swung around his new sword while frowning. "I don't like this sword."

"That's just because you're not used to it yet."

"My old sword was way better." Gourry muttered under his breath.

"So how are we going to find Miss Lina?" Amelia wondered.

"We're following her footprints." Gourry pointed to the ground.

"I don't see any footprints of the beast." Amelia frowned.

"She was alone."

...

The beast tried to strike the shadow mass but it disappeared into thing air. The beast looked back at Lina.

The energy blast had hit Lina hard and knocked her backs and hit her against the tree. She lay unconscious in a heap on the ground with blood trickled down the side of her head.

The beast approached Lina cautiously. It lifted her head gently and looked at her wound and let a whining noise.

"It's the beast! And it's hurt Miss Lina!" Amelia yelled as she, Sylphiel and Gourry ran towards Lina.

The beast looked at Lina and then at the people coming. Not knowing what to do the beast panicked and ran leaving Lina behind.

"Miss Lina!" Sylphiel ran to Lina checking her pulse.

"How is she?"

"She's hurt. She has a head injury and a strange burn."

"We have to get her back to the town!"

...

"How is she doing?" Mr. Melbourne asked Sylphiel whom was attending to Lina along with Amelia.

"She hit her head, and might have a concussion. But I was able to treat that wound." Sylphiel sighed.

"So she'll be fine then?"

Sylphiel shook her head. "I don't know, she has a burn that seems to be magical in properties. I was able to treat it but it's having lasting effects on her health. Miss Lina right now has a high fever and I can't seem to bring it down."

"Curse that demon! What can we do for Miss Lina?"

"I don't know. Magically I'm out of ideas. And conventional medicine doesn't seem to be working either. But if this fever doesn't brake soon it could kill her."

"Oh what have I done? This is all my fault! I shouldn't have asked her to come to this damned place!" The mayor cried out with grief.

"Is there really nothing we can do for Miss Lina?" Amelia asked Sylphiel with a worried frown.

"Well the fever might go away on its' own. But if the fever is tied to the beast it might persist until the creature is dead."

"So if we kill the beast Miss Lina's fever will go away? But we don't know how to do that! That's why I brought her here in the first place!" Mr. Melbourne buried his face in his hands in grief.

"Did Miss Lina say anything to you about the beast from her investigation?" Amelia questioned the mayor.

"No not that I can remember. Wait a minute! She did say something about the possibility of a fire spell killing the beast."

"Why did she say that?"

"I told her of our experiences with the beast and it seems to fear fire."

"That sounds risky." Sylphiel frowned.

"But we don't have any other choice." Amelia rationalized.

"I'll gather some men to accompany us." Mr. Melbourne decided.

...

Inside Lina's dream the air kept turning from hot to cold. She swirled around in circles.

"Around and around. Around and around. I think I'm going to be sick!"

Lina woke up and puked in a nearby bucket.

"Ah Miss Lina you're awake!" The innkeeper's wife smiled at Lina feeling her forehead. "And your fever seems to have broken too! Bless Cepheid!"

"What happened?" Lina felt the raw tended spot on her head.

"The beat was about to eat you! Thank goodness for Miss Amelia, Miss Sylphiel and Mister Gourry for saving you when they did. They had thought the beast still being alive was keeping your fever raging so they went off to kill it. Looks like it isn't needed. Your body probably needed some time to heal. You get some rest sweetie." The old woman left Lina alone in her room.

Lina frowned in confusion. "The beast did this to me?" She tried to remember but it was all muddled in her head. She looked over to the nightstand and the contents on it. Some of the things were from her cloak that she recognized right away. And then there were some she didn't remember right away; the cracked gem, the scrap of fabric and the book.

Lina picked up the items remembering them. 'These were the beast's.' She picked up the book and started to read.

After a few moments of reading she recognized what sort of book it was.

Lina snapped her gaze back at the fabric and the gem. "Oh no! That's why they seemed familiar!" She exclaimed. "Oh gods they're off to hunt him down!" She said in horror. In a flash she was dressed and running down the stairs.

"Dear where are you going? You shouldn't leave, you're still sick!" The innkeeper's wife called out to Lina but Lina was long gone.

"_RAYWING!_" Lina casted as soon as she was out of the house. "I've got to hurry!"

...

"There's the beast!" A townsperson cried out with torch in hand.

The beast ran through the woods while being chased. It didn't know what the people were saying but it did know what they were in the woods for. They were going to kill him. It ran and ran till it tripped on a tree root twisting its' ankle with a sickening crunch. It wailed in pain and tried to get up but only further succeeded in hurting his foot more.

"We've got it corned!" Another townsperson yelled motioning for them to follow him. He threw his torch to the right of the beast while another man threw there's to the left.

The beast pushed its' back to the tree frightened and huddled in a ball.

Amelia began to chant an incantation for a fireball. 'Start off with something small and then we'll see the effects.'

Lina flew through the woods and tackled Amelia.

"Miss Lina! You're alive!" They all cheered.

"Now you can help us kill the demon." The mayor said throwing his torch around the beast.

"No!" Lina screeched standing the beast and the townspeople. "You can't kill him!" Lina started chanting under her breathe. "_AQUA CREATE!_" Lina formed a mass of water and extinguished all the fire.

"It tried to kill you!" Mr. Melbourne protested. "Why would you want to protect it?"

"He's my friend!" Lina protested.

"She's in the league with the demon!" One of the townspeople cried out starting a chorus of angry yelling.

"He's not a demon! Well mostly not. And if you want to kill him you'll have to get through me first!" Lina declared standing in front of the beast with outstretched arms.

"Miss Lina you're not thinking rationally. You were hit hard on the head and burned with a weird spell. Please stop away from the beast." Sylphiel tried to coax Lina away.

"Yes Miss Lina that creature hurt you! You must get away from it now!" Amelia pleaded.

Lina violently shook her head. "He didn't. The real demon in the woods hurt me. The same demon that turned him," Lina pointed to the beast, "from a chimera into the creature you see before you!"

Amelia and Sylphiel gasped in shock with their eyes wide. "Mister Zelgadis?" They both exclaimed.

"Huh?" Gourry blinked his eyes in confusion. "That's not Zel. He's smaller and more human like. But I guess the skin's kinda the same." He observed.

"You're saying that thing there used to be a person?" The mayor exclaimed in disbelief.

"It's true! A demon was sealed in that shrine over there." Lina pointed at the old broken down shrine in the distance. "And it escaped when my friend here visited it. His great grandfather cursed him when he was younger and turned him into a chimera of 1/3 demon, 1/3 human and 1/3 golem. He's been trying to return his body back to normal for years now! I found this book that he had and in it there's a possible cure to do with a temple in the middle of a sacred woods. This is not the area that Zelgadis thought it was and the sealed demon took advantage of it and changed into the form you see here."

"I'm sorry to say Miss Lina that sounds a little farfetched." Mr. Melbourne stated still not convinced. "If there had been a chimera in our town we would have known."

"Really? So you mean to say no man dressed in a off white tunic, pants, cape and hood that covered most of his face came through here?" She pulled out the cracked gem in her cloak. "And had this gem as part of the clasp for his cloak?"

The townspeople murmured among themselves.

"Well?" Lina prompted.

"I do remember a man of that description. He didn't ask for much, just directions." Mr. Melbourne admitted. "So there's another demon in here?"

"Yes and its' far more dangerous than your so called beast."

"You are right in that assumption." A ghostly voice called out.

Everyone looked around trying to find the source of the strange voice.

That same mass of dark shadow clouds appeared in the sky. "For hundreds of years I had been sealed in that damn shrine waiting to get out and have my vengeance. I did turn your friend into that creature, you were right about that." The demon's eyes glowed which made the beast/Zel to wail in pain. "Come now my beast you will do as I say. Kill them!"

The beast jumped up to all fours and growled from the back of his throat. It inched forward with its' claws making clicking noises each time.

"_DEFENSE!_" Both Amelia and Sylphiel chasted at the same time. A large barrier surrounded everyone.

The beast wildly crashed into the barrier trying to slash its' way through.

"Miss Lina I can't hold this for too long!" Sylphiel announced already nearing her limits.

"Zelgadis! Are you in there? I know you can hear me! Stop this! Don't let that thing control you!" Lina pleaded with the beast.

The beast paused for a moment but then went back to tried to kill them.

"Don't you see it's no use? I created that body so I control it! MWAHAHAHAHA!" The shadow demon cackled.

"ZEL! Please stop this! You need to fight it! ZELGADIS!" Lina still yelled. 'I just need to pause him again."

The beast paused again. It grabbed his head in obvious pain.

_"Source of all power, crimson fire burning bright. FLARE ARROW!" _Lina shot three small flare arrows at the beast. Two that hit the ground near it and the last one hit him in the stomach.

Zelgadis recoiled backwards in confusion. He looked up at the demon and backed up.

"DAMN YOU! You keep foiling my plans!" The shadow demon screeched.

"Looks like you don't have complete control over my friend. He does have a strong mind so it must be pretty hard to control him at all." Lina snickered.

"I'll kill you all!" The shadow beast shot another blast of that same energy that it knocked Lina down with before.

The energy crackled as it came into contact with the barrier. But the sheer force of it was more stronger then Sylphiel or Amelia could imagine that it diffused the barrier they were struggling to hold up.

"_ELMEKIA LANCE!_" Amelia chasted shooting it at the shadow demon. She hit the demon right on.

The demon cackled once more. "You think such pathetic magic will kill me? MWHAHAHAHAHA!"

"_ELMEKIA FLAME!_" Lina shot at the demon.

This time the shadow demon seemed to be pained a bit but it still recovered like nothing happened. "I think I shall kill you now." The demon shot another blast of energy at Lina.

Lina tried to dodge but the energy was locked on her, there was no way she was going to avoid the blast. Lina braced herself for impact but felt none. She heard the blast sound but miraculously was not hit. "Why wasn't I…? ZEL!"

He had stepped between her and the blast letting his back take most of the damage.

"Damn you, you're not supposed to protect them!" The shadow demon screeched.

_"Source of all souls which dwell in eternal and infinite. Everlasting flame of blue, let the power hidden in my soul be called forth from the Infinite...RA-TILT!"_ Amelia casted her most powerful spell at the shadow demon.

Since the demon was distracted it couldn't avoid the sure kill spell. "AHHHHHH!" It screamed as it started to fade away.

"I did it! I killed the demon!" Amelia cheered.

The shadow demon appeared behind her and placed a hand on her shoulder. It sent currents of electricity through Amelia's body.

"AHHHHHHHH!" Amelia screamed as she fell unconscious.

"Don't you get it you can't kill me! I am immortal!"

"Really for an immortal you seem pretty tired out. I don't even think you can fight anymore." Lina taunted it.

"Miss Lina what are you doing?" Sylphiel hissed.

"I can still fight more!" It declared lying. That spell had taken more of it then it would lead on. 'What am I going to do?' It looked over at the beast. The beast was still conscious but it didn't look like it was in good shape. 'Perfect.' The shadow demon flew straight at the beast and went right through him.

The beast got up despite all the pain in doing so and grinned. "Still think I can't fight?" The beast croaked in a very scratching distorted voice.

"Damn you!" Lina hissed.

"You kill me, you kill your friend. What are you going to do now?" The demon laughed yet again.

"_They will not have to do anything my dear. You sealed your own fate."_ Another mysterious voice sounded.

"What no! Where are you?" The beast looked around panicked.

Behind the demon stood the mysterious silent woman. She placed her hands on the beast expelling the demon out of it. _"Be gone from this world you unholy creature!"_

The demon and the beast both screamed at the same time. The demon rose from the beast's body and turned to dust.

Zelgadis' body crumpled to the ground in a shred of fabric unconscious but no longer the beast.

"So I take it you were the priestess the whole time." Lina asked the silent woman.

The woman nodded. _"I died that day I sealed this demon away. I should have purified it to start but I was too weak from chasing and fighting it."_

"And so you stayed here protecting this land even after your death."

The woman nodded once more. _"Yes and now that the demon is gone I will walk this land no more."_ As she spoke she disappeared leaving only the ribbons behind that were caught up in the wind and blown away dancing on the breeze.

...

Days later Lina sat in a chair watching over the sleeping form of Zelgadis. He had several injuries that Sylphiel had attended to but like Lina he had also been gripped with an unnatural fever. Zelgadis' had been worse than Lina's taking him longer to recover.

"Quiet an ordeal we've been through." Lina said to Zelgadis even though he was sleeping.

He awoke, his face displaying both confusion and pain. "What happened? Where am I? Lina?"

"Yes, it's me. You're in a small farming town. And for the last couple of months you've been a savage beast terrorizing the town." Lina answered in a dull voice.

"I was?"

"Yeah a demon changed you into a monstrous creature. Which of course me, being the wonderful and powerful sorceress that I am had to save your butt and saved the day." Lina gloated.

Zelgadis was going to retort to that comment but then some of the memories of when he was the beast started to flood into his mind. "Oh gods, I remember that. I tried to kill you all."

"Only when that shadow demon made you. I managed to snap you out of that."

"Yeah but hitting me with flare arrows." Zelgadis said dryly. "And as for you saving my butt I do remember saving yours too. In fact I think I was putting myself in more danger then you were trying to protect me from the villagers."

"Alright fine we'll call it even. But still Zel you did a real stupid thing. I know you don't want to hear this, but the more you try and find a cure for your condition the more and more you're acting like Rezo."

"What?" Zelgadis exclaimed.

"Yeah. Look what happened to him. He tried so hard to cure his blindness that we turned into a piece of Shabrinigdo! You got turned into a feral demon thing because you thought by going to that shrine you could cure yourself. But you didn't. And you were lucky this time Zel. I was called in to deal with the situation. Had it been someone else you wouldn't have been so lucky. Either you would have kill someone or been killed yourself. And quite frankly I don't want to have to clean up your mess every time you screw up." Lina chided.

"So what are you suggesting?"

"You are not going off to search for cures on your own. You are going to stick with me and Gourry. We'll alternate looking for cures and treasure. And don't think you're going to get out of it either. I'm as stubborn as hell and you're stuck with me till the bitter end." Lina grinned.

He knew she was telling the truth, he wasn't going to get out of this. "We'll discuss this later when I'm feeling better."

"No discussions! You're coming with me and Gourry whether you like it or not! And if you run off we'll just go and hunt your ass down!"

Zelgadis frowned. "We'll see. But I can get some rest please. I'm really tired."

"Fine. But I'll be back." Lina glared at him before leaving the room.

"How is he doing?" Mr. Melbourne asked greeting Lina in the hallway.

"He's being stubborn as usual but otherwise he's doing better. I'm sure he'll be up in no time."

"I'm really sorry about the whole situation Miss Lina. I can't believe we were so blind. We all could have killed an innocent man." The mayor sighed.

"You were all scared and just reacting the way any person would. I doubt Zel is offended by it. I mean he did cost you guys a bit for your livestock and crops. Which we'll pay for."

The mayor shook his head. "We're not rich people but we're not unfair or unjust. I couldn't ask you do that. Not after the way we were acting."

"So we call it even then?" Lina grinned holding out her hand.

"I think we will." Mr. Melbourne took hers and shook it. "Though I can't believe that legend was true after all."

"Well legends are usually based on some truth. In this case the legend was completely true. I tell you you're lucky the demon didn't come straight into town and start terrorizing everyone."

"Why didn't it?" The mayor asked.

"Probably because your ghostly priestess was protecting the town. So it was sending Zelgadis to do its' biding, which of course didn't work that well because Zelgadis was resisting the demon's control."

"Well thank goodness for the priestess. But you know the name of the priestess?"

Lina shook her head.

"According to our legends her names was Selina."

_**HAPPY HALLOWEEN!**_


End file.
